(41) Plate XVIII/a

                                                             Plate XVIII.

                                    THE PORT OF INVERARY.

THIS town is the capital of the county of Argyle, which gives the title of Duke to the Campbell family.
The old town is now nearly deserted, and the inhabitants have removed to the new one, built mostly at
the expense of the Duke of Argyle, whose castle stands at a short distance from the town. The harbour
was formerly called Slochk Ichopper, meaning the inlet, where vessels came to barter and sell their fish;
and we find in the arms of the town a net with a herring and this motto, Semper tibi pendeat halec.
The herring fishery lasts from July to January, and is the chief support of the town, which contains about
eleven hundred inhabitants. While this continues, all is activity and gaiety. During the day the little
flotilla of boats, sometimes to the amount of several hundreds, lies moored near the shore; while "every
evening," says Pennant, "they cover the surface of Loch Fyne, an arm of the sea, which, from its
narrowness, and from the winding of its shores, has all the beauties of a fresh water lake. On the week
days the cheerful noise of the bagpipe and dance echoes from on board, while on the sabbath all the boats
divide the day between psalmody and devotion." The environs of the town are beautiful in the extreme;
and the top of Dun-y-coich, which is seen with its solitary tower to the left of the distance, from the
insulated site of the hill, though not more than seven hundred and fifty feet high, embraces a most exten-
sive view of Loch Fyne and the surrounding mountainous country. This drawing was made 1799.